AFTV
ArsenalFanTV is an English YouTube channel founded by Robbie Lyle devoted to fans of the Premier League football club Arsenal. About Set up in during the 2012–13 season, ArsenalFanTV describes itself as "an Arsenal channel for Arsenal fans" and offers a platform for their fans to voice their unfiltered opinions before and after their matches - which has made the channel not only popular with Arsenal fans but also with fans of other Premier League clubs, albeit for very different reasons. Regulars Since the channel began there have been several fans who have become well known due to their appearances on the channel, several of whom have since started their own separate YouTube channels. Among the regulars are... Robbie, the channel's founder and presenter, who interviews the various fans before and after matches. Following the channel's growth, he set up his own channel, Man Like Robbie, where he discusses wider football culture. He has also written for the Evening Standard newspaper. Claude (full name Claudio Callegari), nicknamed Angry Claude based on some of the passionate rants he has made throughout the channel's history, who have long been demanding that the club remove long-time manager Arsene Wenger - which has led to arguments with other regulars. Ty, who is easily recognized due to appearing wearing not just an Arsenal shirt but also an Arsenal-branded beanie, pair of headphones and jacket, as well as sipping from an Arsenal-branded water bottle. As a firm believer that the club should keep the faith with Wenger, he has had a few verbal clashes with Claude. He is also known for the time when, following a surprise loss to Watford during the 2016–17 season, he tried to blame the weather for the result, claiming the rain affected the team. Troopz, known for both his colorful language, which has seen him nicknamed "the blud fam guy" due to how often those words pop up when he's interviewed, as well as for his rapid-fire speech. As he has mentioned a few times, although he supports Arsenal, the rest of his family support Tottenham - Arsenal's fierce local rivals. He also has his own channel, Troopz TV D.T., known for his swear word-laden rants, as well as creating the large "Thanks for the memories, but it's time to go" banner demanding the club remove manager Wenger which was prominently displayed at one match during the 2016–17 season. He also has his own vlogging channel, Mr DT, where he posts his reactions before, during and after matches. He also likes to troll Tottenham's Twitter feed if they have had a bad result, which does not in any way make him look like an insecure manchild with an inferiority complex Moh (full name Moh Haider), who is known for having a more articulate and objective response to the things going on around the club in comparison to the more colourful outbursts of the other regulars, who first came to prominence with the quip "You get what you pay for unless you're an Arsenal fan" following a surprise loss to Aston Villa at the start of the 2013–14 season Bully, who is instantly recognizable as his matchday attire is styled so he looks like a pirate. Notable Moments While the channel had gained a cult following in a previous couple of years, regularly having threads devoted to it on r/soccer after every Arsenal match (and especially every Arsenal defeat) the channel gained a higher media profile during the 2016/17 season, receiving coverage from several English newspapers. The most notable moment occurred in February 2017 where Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, a former player for Manchester United and England, described Arsenal fans as "embarrassing" due to their hounding of manager Wenger, as well as taking a swipe at the channel. A few days later Neville accepted an invite from the channel to say his piece, and the subsequent video where he meets Claude, Troopz, Moh, and D.T. is the most-viewed video on the channel. Controversies While the channel may gain a lot of views, and has been getting coverage in the mainstream press, they are not universally popular among the Arsenal fanbase - not least when tensions boiled over following a draw with Manchester City in early April 2017, where a group of Arsenal fans interrupted filming and labeled Robbie a "disgrace", before the confrontation momentarily became physical. There was also criticism in late April 2017 when Robbie, Ty and D.T. appeared in an ArsenalFanTV video that was sponsored by British tabloid The Sun, which drew condemnation from fans of both Liverpool and Everton as during the 2016–17 season both clubs have banned the tabloid from their stadiums, Liverpool due to the inflammatory comments the paper had made about their fans in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster, while Everton followed suit after a column that made deeply unpleasant comments about people from the city as well as their player Ross Barkley. When addressing the Oxford Union in February 2018, Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin was critical of the channel, going so far as to question whether those appearing on the channel were true Arsenal fans while also accusing the channel of profiting from the team's failures. Category:Users that joined in 2012 Category:Male YouTubers Category:English YouTubers Category:One Million Subscribers